Tech: Netflix Expands Range of Original Programming

Reed Hastings, Netflix’s Chief Executive Officer, says that expanding range of original programming available on Netflix is how the company will be well positioned when the entertainment world undergoes a digital revolution. “Television networks traditionally need to stand for something to carve out an audience, but the Internet allows brands to mean different things to different people because the service can be personalized for individual viewers,” states Hastings. Therefore, entertainment for a conservative Christian family will be more wholesome, while for a 20-year-old New York college student entertainment will be more edgy. This emphasis on original content expands on Netflix’s long-term view that the Internet is replacing television. Netflix has invested in developing original programming, such as House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, and recently announced that it will produce the revival of Full House. This transition from linear TV to Internet TV will be going on for the next 20 years, and with Netflix’s 59.6 million paid streaming subscribers, the company showed investors that there is still much more room to grow.